Chapter 119 : Aspiration

Chapter 119: Aspiration

“Knowledge is power!”

At Yul Han’s shout, the restless murmuring instantly subsided.

Part of it was because they were suppressed by the Vice Cult Leader’s imposing presence, but the majority of the martial artists agreed with his words.

In the past, they would have been crushed by force, unable to understand, simply enduring in silence—but not this time.

Recently, they had been painfully realizing just how important knowledge, including the ability to comprehend classical texts, was in mastering high-level martial arts.

And that wasn’t all. Here and there, those who had failed the Elder Trial nodded their heads.

They had come to understand that carrying out an operation without incident required far more thought than one might imagine.

Well, until now, most of the Bright Cult’s operations had consisted of nothing more than killing and smashing everything in sight.

They had been battles dictated by brute force—the strongest master standing at the vanguard and simply pushing forward without question.

Meticulous strategies, precise movements to reduce casualties—none of that had ever been taken into consideration.

Until now, no one had looked back on such things.

It hadn’t mattered how many subordinates died. Even if they all died, as long as the battle was won, that was enough.

They had been intoxicated by the law of Might Makes Right.

They had ‘mistakenly’—yes, mistakenly—believed that only those who survived such merciless battles could be called the strong.

More and more within the Bright Cult were coming to realize this anew.

That was what allowed them to readily acknowledge Yul Han’s cry.

As the murmurs fully settled among those nodding their heads, the Great Heavenly Martial Festival once again filled with roaring cheers, the heat of excitement quickly rising.

In that heated atmosphere, the sparring matches between the Elders and the preliminary victors began.

To the point that the earlier controversy felt pointless, the masters holding the position of Elder were outstanding.

Well, it wasn’t as though those who had earned permission from the Cult Leader and the Vice Cult Leader to challenge for the Elder position could possibly lack ability.

Perhaps because of that, most of the matches were won by the incumbent Elders.

All except one.

The Poison Demon.

The challenger who won without even fighting—because the Poison Demon declared forfeiture the moment he stepped out—wore a bewildered expression.

After even offering him congratulations, the Poison Demon ran straight to the Strategist, as though he had no interest whatsoever in the possibility of losing his Elder position.

To him, the establishment of a Physician Training Institution was of utmost importance.

With such a crucial matter before him, if he were injured during a sparring match, the work would be delayed, and it might even fizzle out altogether.

He could not take such a risk.

Among the successive Poison Demons, who had all been physicians by nature, there had not been a single one who hadn’t tried to establish a physician training institution within the Bright Cult.

It was simply that none of them had borne fruit.

Not a single Cult Leader had ever lent support to that effort.

Until the Vice Cult Leader made his decision this time, the current Cult Leader had likewise shown no interest.

The Poison Demon could never allow such a hard-won opportunity to slip away.

A few jeers broke out from some corners, but they were quelled when the Vice Cult Leader lightly stamped his foot.

Infused with internal energy, the single light ‘thud’ of his stomp traveled through the ground and shook the entire Grand Training Grounds, where the Heavenly Martial Festival was being held.

Eyes widened at the thought—was such a thing truly possible through the strength of a single person?

Absolute awe!

Such a master—was their very own Vice Cult Leader, the one who ate with them, rolled in the dirt with them, trained alongside them.

Cheers burst out at once.

Waaaaaah!

Amid the thunderous cries, the Vice Cult Leader stepped onto the Sparring Platform.

Then he bowed deeply toward the Cult Leader.

“Will you accept my challenge to a sparring match?”

It had already been announced that there would be a match between the Cult Leader and the Vice Cult Leader.

Though it was a scheduled event, and though everyone knew it was merely a demonstration of the Demon Wall Five Absolutes, tension instantly filled the arena.

Moreover—

“You brat. You’ve grown a lot. I’ll kill you!”

The Cult Leader descended with a massive blade, answering roughly, and the arena surged with tension on the verge of explosion.

And that wasn’t all.

“It won’t be easy!”

The Vice Cult Leader’s unexpected retort made people’s eyes widen.

It felt as though they were truly about to clash in earnest.

Flustered, people looked to one another—then their gazes gathered on the Iron Demon.

After all, no one had spent more time with the Vice Cult Leader recently than he had.

The problem was that the Iron Demon was just as flustered.

In the end, he looked toward the one he believed to be the smartest man in the Bright Cult.

The Strategist, who had the Profound Demon chattering endlessly beside him, watched the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader facing each other atop the platform and let out a faint snicker.

As if to say, ‘They’re really putting on a show.’

Realizing at last that the two were in the middle of a staged performance, the Iron Demon also allowed a relieved smirk to appear.

Only then did faint smiles bloom on the lips of those who had been so tense.

But—

BOOM!

Before anyone understood what had happened, dozens of thunderclaps seemed to explode at once from the platform where the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader collided, and the people’s expressions froze.

Not only the Iron Demon, who had been smiling, but even the Ghost Demon—who had been waiting alongside them for the upcoming Treasury Throne Selection Final—sprang to his feet.

“Full power deployment!”

He had recognized that the Cult Leader had struck with all his might—and that the Vice Cult Leader had blocked it.

This was not a light exchange for the sake of demonstrating the Demon Wall Five Absolutes. It meant they would clash at full strength, just as they themselves would.

Amid the shock, someone caught sight of the faint smile that briefly crossed the Vice Cult Leader’s face.

It was not the expression of someone taken by surprise. Which meant the Vice Cult Leader had already known.

In truth, before their sparring had begun, the Cult Leader had proposed a full-power clash.

After training together and realizing that no matter what he did, he could not surpass his junior brother, the Cult Leader had requested that they fight at full strength.

To quote his exact words:

<Let me go all out just once. If not with you, then with whom could I possibly do it?>

It had taken three days of persuasion to win Yul Han’s consent.

And even while pleading, the Cult Leader had not once used the authority he possessed.

In other words, he had not tried to leverage the things Yul Han requested or desired in order to bargain.

Moved by such purity from his senior brother, the Vice Cult Leader had agreed.

To be honest, the reason he had opposed it was not because he couldn’t accept the Cult Leader’s full-power deployment, but because he did not want to confirm before so many Bright Cult martial artists that the Vice Cult Leader was stronger than the Cult Leader.

He had worried how that would be received in a Bright Cult ruled by Might Makes Right.

But that concern proved needless the moment the match began.

Even the Iron Demon and the Ghost Demon, who had both reached the Manifestation Realm, and even the Profound Demon and Pageuk, could not close their gaping mouths.

A Cult Leader fighting at full power was not terrifying—he was simply awe-inspiring.

He launched attacks from directions that could not possibly be blocked, at angles that could not possibly be bent.

And each strike carried heaven-shaking, earth-splitting force, as though it would tear the sky apart and rock the ground.

Force Energy was child’s play.

Force Energy was fired off like memorized incantations—countless Force Bullets shot through the air, and before long, Lightning Energy surged outward.

As they both began to execute the Sun-Moon Sword, Yul Han drew the Lightning Cloud Blade.

Watching Lightning Energy extend outward around the blade, the Cult Leader grumbled.

“That’s cheating!”

“You’re the one who said a good blade is also part of one’s ability, Senior Brother.”

“Damn it! Did I really say something that insane?”

“Yes.”

“Bloody hell! I can’t become an unfilial son, so I suppose it can’t be helped. Come!”

The Vice Cult Leader grinned at the Cult Leader, who steeled himself, and his figure shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

KWA-BOOM! KRRRRAAACK!

After the tremendous impact, the sound of Lightning Energy spreading in all directions reverberated through the air.

The shock was so powerful that thick clouds of dust rose and obscured everyone’s vision.

On top of that, Lightning Energy discharged wildly through the dust, forcing the spectators to hastily retreat.

When that raging storm finally subsided—

The Cult Leader and the Vice Cult Leader stood smiling, their weapons crossed against one another.

A brief silence, and then—

Waaaaaah!

A roar erupted as though it would shake the heavens.

To be honest, no one really knew what had happened.

They were too fast to follow with the eye, and the shockwaves were so powerful that it was difficult to even keep one’s eyes open.

Even so, they cheered.

Because the ones who had displayed such martial might were their own Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader.

While the ordinary martial artists roared in celebration, those at the Transcendent Realm and above could not close their gaping mouths.

They had at least been able to follow the speed, and even through the thick dust and shockwaves, they had clearly seen the match.

What they had witnessed was so unbelievable that, even as dust entered their mouths, they could not bring themselves to close them.

Among those astonished masters, many recalled what the Vice Cult Leader had said when he revealed the Four Sacred Arts of the Heavenly Demon.

<The Demon Wall Five Absolutes stand shoulder to shoulder with the Four Sacred Arts of the Heavenly Demon.>

Turn that statement around, and it meant that if they properly mastered the Four Sacred Arts of the Heavenly Demon revealed to them, they too could unleash martial might on par with the Demon Wall Five Absolutes just displayed by the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader.

At last, as they closed their mouths, the same thought took root in their minds.

‘Me too!’

That was why an enormous roar erupted belatedly from those at the Transcendent Realm and above—so loud that it drowned out the cheers of all the other Bright Cult martial artists.

Perhaps stirred by the internal energy infused into their cries, the other martial artists shouted at the top of their lungs as well, to the point that the entire Main Fortress of the Bright Cult seemed ready to collapse.

Immediately after the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader’s match—which had drawn such a fervent reaction—the Treasury Throne Selection Final took place.

The Iron Demon and the Ghost Demon clashed.

For the ordinary martial artists, this was actually more spectacular.

Though it was still a match between Manifestation Realm masters—too fast and producing relentless shockwaves—it was not so overwhelming as to be completely invisible like the clash between the Cult Leader and Vice Cult Leader.

Amid cheers and applause, the Treasury Throne Selection Final ultimately ended in victory for the Iron Demon.

Even with the Ghost Demon deploying the Ice Force of the Thousand-Year Ice Essence, the Iron Demon had skillfully and steadily blocked every attack.

Before the eyes of tens of thousands, the Cult Leader handed the keys of the Treasury Throne over to the victorious Iron Demon.

The arena erupted in cheers once more.

“But… since when did our Treasury Throne have keys?”

When the Strategist asked with an expression of complete bewilderment, the Cult Leader smiled faintly.

“What are you talking about? Is the Treasury Throne some kind of vault that it’d have keys?”

“Then what are those keys?”

“Ah! They’re symbolic, symbolic! The kids are watching—looks good, too. Heh heh.”

In other words, he had handed over keys as if they existed—when they did not.

Watching the Iron Demon holding the keys aloft triumphantly toward the crowd, the Strategist asked again.

“Those keys look awfully familiar.”

“Of course they do. They’re the keys to your room—and the granary you manage.”

“Cult Leader!”

The shout was so loud that it pierced through the roaring cheers.

Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned toward the Strategist, who had shouted, and the Cult Leader standing blankly before him.

Under the gathered stares, the Cult Leader muttered without moving his lips, like a ventriloquist.

“Why? I should just blurt it all out as it is.”

Because he spoke without moving his lips, the pronunciation came out slurred, and the Strategist asked incredulously,

“Just use Mental Voice Transmission. Where did you even learn that?”

“Ah! Therrr wass a ventriloquist who camm to the Mountain Foot Village. That guy did it like this.”

“Seriously!”

After watching the irritated Strategist and the snickering Cult Leader for a moment, the people returned to cheering wildly for the Iron Demon.

The bickering between the Strategist and the Cult Leader was a familiar sight.

As though saying, ‘Let’s ignore them and mind our own business,’ the Bright Cult martial artists’ reaction made Yul Han smirk.

He liked the way things were now.

It reminded him of the days long ago, when he and his senior and junior brothers had laughed together after training at the Righteous Will Sect.

And so Yul Han wished that, unlike the Righteous Will Sect, this place would continue like this for a long time.

Of course, he knew all too well that simply wishing would not make it so.

That was why, clenching both fists tightly, he resolved to make it happen.